Poverty Is an LGBT Issue: New Report From Legal Services NYC Identifies Civil Legal Needs of Low-Income LGBT Community

Wednesday, January 20th, 2016 - NewsMaker

NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- Jan 19, 2016
--
Legal Services NYC, the largest civil legal services provider
in the U.S., released today a report entitled
Poverty is an LGBT Issue: An Assessment of the Legal Needs of
Low-Income LGBT People. The report is the first of its kind in
the nation and provides insight into the civil legal challenges and
discrimination faced by low-income members of the LGBT community.
It analyzes survey data from more than 300 low-income LGBT New
Yorkers on a range of legal issues related to violence and
harassment, housing, income and disability assistance, immigration,
health care, family, employment, education, and veterans' rights.
In addition to identifying key challenges, the report provides a
series of concrete findings and recommendations to improve legal
services for low-income LGBT people.

"The public doesn't usually associate poverty with the LGBT
community. Unfortunately, that perception is wrong: poverty is a
huge problem for many LGBT people. Yet there are far too few legal
resources to address the challenges and discrimination faced by
low-income LGBT individuals," said Cathy Bowman, LGBT & HIV
Unit Director at Legal Services NYC's Brooklyn office.

"Our goal with this report is to raise awareness and generate
action to fight poverty in the LGBT community," said Adam Heintz,
Director of Pro Bono Services at Legal Services NYC and a primary
author of the report. "Mainstream legal services organizations and
LGBT groups each have a vital role to play in that fight. Legal
Services NYC was very fortunate to have hundreds of low-income LGBT
people share their experiences with us for this report. We owe it
to them to make sure their voices -- which have so often been
ignored -- are heard now."

The report's findings were taken from a survey of 310 low-income
LGBT people, along with additional data from community members,
experts, and other sources.

Findings of the report include:

Low-income LGBT people face many of the same challenges as
others living in poverty: LSNYC's survey found that 62% of
low-income LGBT New Yorkers had difficulty paying for a basic need
in the past year. Analysis of every civil legal practice area
explored uncovered a substantial need for services.

LGBT people struggle to get the public assistance they
need: 32% of respondents said they experienced problems with
public assistance or social security in the past year, including
applying and receiving benefits and housing.

Low-income LGBT people are suffering from the housing crisis
in New York: 44% of respondents reported that they had housing
repair needs that went unmet in just the last year. Another 12%
reported housing problems related to their LGBT identity, again in
the prior 12 months alone.

LGBT people face employment discrimination: 8% of all
survey respondents and 26% of transgender respondents have faced
problems with employment in the past year alone. These figures
include only people actively seeking work -- not those who stopped
working or job-searching because of their difficulties.

The report provides a series of findings and recommendations
about the civil legal needs of LGBT people based on this and other
data. The report recommends a dramatic expansion in services for
low-income LGBT people and concludes that legal services
organizations must take special care to welcome and serve LGBT
clients.

"Legal Services NYC's work to protect the rights of LGBT people
is an integral aspect of our mission to serve low-income New
Yorkers," said Raun Rasmussen, Executive Director of Legal Services
NYC. "We are proud to share this first-of-its-kind report and hope
that it will galvanize efforts to increase vital legal services for
those in the LGBT community who are living in poverty."

About Legal Services NYC:Legal Services NYC fights
poverty and seeks justice for low-income New Yorkers. For more than
45 years, we have challenged systemic injustice and helped clients
meet basic needs for housing, access to high-quality education,
health care, family stability, and income and economic security.
LSNYC is the largest civil legal services provider in the country,
with deep roots in all of the communities we serve. Our
neighborhood-based offices and outreach sites across all five
boroughs help more than 80,000 New Yorkers annually.

LSNYC prevents evictions, saves homes from foreclosure, and
preserves thousands of subsidized and rent-regulated housing units.
We tackle consumer scams and help those in need to obtain critical
state and federal benefits. We protect the rights of low-income
students and ensure that children with special needs have access to
meaningful education. We help vulnerable New Yorkers, including
people who are elderly or disabled and those with HIV, gain and
keep public health insurance and other benefits. We secure safety
and financial stability for survivors of domestic violence,
including adjusting immigration status to put these survivors and
their families on the path to citizenship. We fight for the rights
of veterans and those who are LGBTQ. LSNYC addresses the underlying
causes of our clients' problems through all forms of advocacy,
including litigation and legislative reform. We partner with scores
of community based organizations, elected officials, public
agencies and the courts to maximize our effectiveness. Our work
helps to achieve equal opportunity and economic and racial justice
for low income New Yorkers throughout the City.

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